Columbia Pictures
(June 18, 1993- ) Nicknames: "The Torch Lady", "'90s Torch Lady" Logo: This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal on a sky background filled with cumulonimbus clouds, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst, with the cloud background fading in a brief second later. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. After the lady, along with the cloud background, are fully zoomed out, on the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiseled font, fades in afterwards as a ring of light shimmers around the lady, while the cloud background very slowly moves to the right. Byline: * June 18, 1993-1999: (bylineless) * 1996-2013: "a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company" (it is slightly off-center.) * 2014- : "a Sony Company" Variants: * A prototype version of the 1996 variant exists where the SPE byline is larger. * Starting in 2006, the logo has a more "enhanced" look with a darker background, "COLUMBIA" has more silver in it and is slightly off-center. There is a version where the clouds are stretched a bit. * A prototype version of the 2014 variant exists where there is no Sony logo, the byline is smaller and slightly off-center like the 1996 variant. * Starting in 2014, the Sony logo now transitions to this logo. * On the trailer for Erin Brockovich and the end of the VHS for Black Hawk Down, the logo zooms out to a much further distance than usual, revealing the bottom of the cloud background below the pedestal. FX/SFX: The torch shining and the zoom out are good animation for 1993, and the transition from the Sony logo from 2014 onward is well-crafted, but after a quarter-century, the logo has lost a bit of its luster. Music/Sounds: * June 18, 1993-1998: A majestic tune is heard, which ends with a brass sounder. There are two versions of the fanfare: one that sounds orchestrated that's played by a piano with orchestration and one that sounds more synthesized. * 1998- : Both themes are mixed. * 2014- : Starting with Sex Tape, released on July 18, 2014, extra build-up is added at the beginning, to match up with the parting clouds. * Other times, it would be silent or the opening theme would play over it. Availability: Current and very common. The bylineless variant is preserved on most 1993 to 1999 films, such as Last Action Hero. The prototype Sony Pictures Entertainment variant is preserved only on The Juror. The standard Sony Pictures Entertainment variant is preserved on most 1996 to 2007 films, such as Erin Brockovich the end of Black Hawk Down and Open Season. The enhanced variant is preserved on most 2006 to 2013 films, such as The Holiday, Surf's Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Smurfs, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Captain Phillips. The prototype Sony variant is preserved on most 2014 films, such as The Monuments Men and RoboCop. The standard Sony variant is preserved on most films since 2014, such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Hotel Transylvania 2, Goosebumps, The Angry Birds Movie, Smurfs: The Lost Village, The Emoji Movie and Peter Rabbit. Don't expect to see this logo on The Star or Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. This is likely because of both films' negative reception, in a similar situation between 20th Century Fox and Epic Movie and Paramount Pictures and Strange Wilderness. This logo continues to be used, even after TriStar Pictures adopted a new logo in 2015. Scare Factor: None.